


Another Step Closer

by FluffyLlamacorn



Category: HuGっと！プリキュア | Hug tto! Precure
Genre: Canon Non-Binary Character, Coming Out, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Pre-Relationship, haven't figured it completely out yet, in the process of being uninternalized, non-binary wakamiya henri, probably genderfluid or bigender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 05:18:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16906830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyLlamacorn/pseuds/FluffyLlamacorn
Summary: Henri casually comes out in several ways. Masato needs a little more time.





	Another Step Closer

”Honestly, sometimes I feel more like a girl than a guy,” Henri says and Masato completely loses track of the conversation they’d been having. He sputters and gasps and blushes, not as much at what Henri had said, but at what his first thought had been. They were walking through a park on the way back from Henri’s practice, and Masato has to take care not to stumble.

“Masato?” Henri says, his face carefully neutral as he judges Masato’s reaction.

“I, uh, I guess that makes sense? With the life you lead, there certainly are times you partake in roles that are more commonly done by women,” Masato says, trying to distract himself from his blush.

“It’s not like that,” Henri corrects him and stops walking. “It’s not that I _seem_ like a girl sometimes. It’s that I _am_ a girl sometimes.” He’s still waiting for a proper response, eye contact firm.

“Oh,” Masato says, stopping in response. He tries very hard not to re-think his first response, fails horribly and looks away, blushing terribly.

Henri grins as he points it out. “Why are you blushing?”

“Ah,” Masato says. “That’s…. a long story.” Even someone as open minded as Henri would probably have a hard time accepting that Masato seems to be developing a crush on him.

“Alright then,” Henri says gracefully and finally starts walking again. “I can respect your privacy. But… will you answer one question?”

“Uhm, sure,” Masato says and swallows. This would hopefully be the last and then they could move on with… whatever they had been talking about. Probably Precure? They always seemed to come up, especially when discussing gender. Looking around for salvation or distraction, he spots some trees not too far away. Maybe they’ll be back to safe topics by the time they reach them.

“Would you tell me if it was a ‘me too’ blush?” Henri asks and… he seems vulnerable. He’s usually so certain, so steadfast, that’s part of what Masato is slowly learning to accept is attractive about him, but now… This uncertainty is something Masato wants to help ease and the only thing he can do right now is tell the truth.

Or, well, something close to it. _If you’re sometimes a girl, does that make me less gay?_ is not a sympathetic reaction, but at least it’s not as bad as his reaction would have been just a couple of months earlier. “It was not. I was thinking about… All your fans. If they still adore you while you’re a girl, what does that make them?”

Henri smiles and Masato feels like flying whenever he causes that to happen. He tries not to think of the confident vibe the smile is giving off that implies Henri sees right through the less true aspects of his white lie. “That’s an interesting question,” Henri smiles. “I hadn’t even thought of that. I suppose it depends on how they like me. Hmm… It definitely means that any relationship I enter, whether with a boy, girl or something else entirely, will be queer in one way or another.”

It takes. A moment before the words register in Masato’s mind. His entire brain’s processing power goes towards comprehending the implications and he stops walking yet again. “You… wouldn’t mind dating anyone?”

“On the contrary,” Henri smiles teasingly. “There are very few people I _wouldn’t_ mind dating. It’s just that of the few exceptions there’s been, I have yet to notice a pattern in their gender.” He winks as well and oh.

 _Oh_.

He knows.

He so definitely _knows_.

He doesn’t seem to mind?

Masato opens his mouth to say something in response, but he doesn’t know what and nothing comes out. He nods instead and figures that maybe, maybe he’ll be able to say something the next time something like this comes up again. “I… Interesting,” he finally manages and starts walking again, maybe a little too fast. He feels Henri’s eyes on him as he power walks to those trees from before. That was the sign to get back to safe topics, right? “So, uhm, did you figure out why you can’t get that jump to work?”

“I’ve got some ideas,” Henri says as he catches up. “If I keep training, I’ll definitely get it in time for the championships.” They share a smile and a look that says… a lot of things that Masato definitely isn’t ready to say and Henri might not be either. For now they can continue in this soft and subtle stage without naming anything.

The road continues.

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot believe there are so few Precure fanfics on here! It's definitely something I want to help fix. For now you get this cute little scene on the road to Henri and Masato figuring out how to date.
> 
> As I mentioned in the tags, I'm still figuring out how I'm reading Henri's identity, but I'm leaning towards a read where he has too much gender instead of too little and eventually deciding to use he/him, she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably. I look forwards to seeing how much more energy the show will spend on exploring the topic and what direction they go in. (I'm also claiming him as aro-spec because green, but that's not nearly as important in this fic)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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